


The Blinding Light

by Emmeline (EmzieTowers)



Category: Dark Souls (Video Games)
Genre: Death, Other, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 00:11:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7991455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmzieTowers/pseuds/Emmeline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a tragic twist, you find one of your most crucial allies, Solaire of Astora, consumed by despair and tainted by the light that beckoned him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Blinding Light

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for Solaire's questline in Dark Souls.

Deep within the bowels of the Demon Ruins, your journey continued. Through trouble and strife, so far you had come out on top. There had been many Demons on your path which you grew tired of executing repeatedly. So now, you had been exploring the area hoping to find a shortcut to help you get through this horrible place with more ease. The heat of the lava beneath the path made your skin sticky inside your armour as well as unsettled your mind, knowing how many terrifying creatures had made this place their home. Despite this, you knew that you had to explore every nook and cranny, for who knew what might await you here, formed in both treasure and terror. 

And now, having slain the Prowling Demon in your way, you were headed toward an overgrown path, lined with charred roots and uneven stone.

You had a bad feeling about the bugs that you saw scurrying along the ground. They were uncomfortably large, and thus it was then that you decided to kill the few moving around at your feet, each taking only one swift hit to meet their demise.

It was only when you heard a groan ahead in the passageway that you discovered how bad they truly were. You ran toward the source of the noise, a heavy feeling growing in your chest as you realise you recognised who the sound came from...

Your worst fears were confirmed when you saw that unmistakable armour, even worse when you saw his Iron Helm left on the dusty floor. However, the Astorian still clutched his iconic sword and shield in hand. Solaire had his back to you, but he seemed to have another cosmetic on his head... and it was made of one of the bugs that you had just walked past. It was alive too, and seemed to massage his scalp in an obscure and frightening manner.

"Solaire! What's happening...?!" Your voice encapsulated the horror that you felt at the sight of him.

You was met with the usual jolly tone, but it was ebbed with pain as he murmured in-between his words to face you. "… Finally, I have found it, I have! … My very own sun… I AM the sun…!" His words deceived the truth, for half of his face had been concealed by the Chaos Bug who had betrayed his mind. Its red eyes took place over Solaire's usual blue, giving him no room for expression other than that of evil. You felt sick. Where your dearest companion saw nothing but the blinding light of his 'victory', you could only see the corruption that had torn his mind and sanity apart.

"…I've done it… I have…"

"Solaire... please...!" You cry out to him, tears immediately welling up your eyes and blurring your vision. "Snap out of it! This isn't the sun you seek, it's all lies!"

Only hours earlier had you both fought a Centipede Demon and succeeded. What happened in between...? You didn't want to fight him... not like this... 

"… Yes, I did it… I did...!" The joyous expression in his voice betrayed what he had become.

You wanted to reach out and pull the Chaos Bug from his head, but before you could even get within range to do so, even without your weapons out, Solaire pushed you away with his shield and cast a sideways strike against your torso, making you fall back and roll on the floor in immense pain. His voice took a tone of unusual hostility, induced by the giant insect on his head.

"You beast... how DARE you try to take away the one thing I had searched for all of this time! You will DIE for your insolence!" 

You felt your heart breaking at his words. Why now? Why at all, would he have even doubted the sincerity of your actions? He seemed unrelenting in his approach, driven to madness by the hellish creature that shrouded his vision in lies.

There was little time for you to dabble in your emotions as Solaire suddenly charged at you with an estranged warcry, teeth gritting beneath the parasitic mask that was the Chaos Bug. He seemed even more doused in strength, although he swung wildly. You were able to roll out of his way and scramble to your feet just in time. At first you simply dodged and weaved his attacks, protecting yourself with your shield and trying to plead to the crazed knight to listen to you. But alas, it came to nothing.

One such strike finished with a smack to the floor with the edge of his blade as the Warrior of Sunlight met the end of his strike animation, and that was when you realised you had to put him out of his misery. You roll out of his way and behind, unsheathing your blade and take the awful opportunity to strike your own weapon through Solaire's back before he had a chance to recover. You feel your weapon tearing through his armour and his flesh with no problem. A gasp and a spatter of blood leaves your victim's lips. From behind him, you whisper into his ear, with tears beginning to well up in your eyes.

"I'm so sorry, dear friend..."

As you quickly removed your bloodied blade, you were fast to hold Solaire close by the waist. Not for an embrace, but to keep him still so you could stab at the intruder that had made your dear friend its host. One careful incision of your blade across the Chaos Bug's entire body was enough to loosen the creature, and it fell to the dust with a pained screech.  
But despite your operation, Solaire had lost his strength. You heard him mumble weakly.

"Ahh, it's over… "

It was a good thing you'd had a hold on him, for his knees went weak and he almost met the floor belly-first. You are quick to settle him into a position where he could lay down, using your lap as a head-rest for him. He gave out small grunts of agony and dribbled more blood, unable to do much else. It takes all of your will to keep your voice strong for your mortally-wounded friend.

"It's okay, Solaire... I'm here..."

You naively thought that a moment's rest would help Solaire to gather his strength, but eventually you realise that your effort to get rid of the Chaos Bug and return your dear companion to sanity had been in vain. You were sure that he would have been able to survive your backstab due to his tremendous vitality. But removing a Chaos Bug left the victim with fatal haemorrhaging in the brain, which no amount of Estus would be able to heal. As you let the knight find rest and comfort in your presence in his final moments, you realised how much had changed in him.

He was so weak now... his hair had become dishevelled and bloody, hiding the marks of the Chaos bug that had latched onto him. His skin had lost its healthy glow, with his body twitching in your gentle embrace. And his eyes... oh, his eyes... they had been robbed of their glow, becoming as murky as the future of the world. Everything he had stood for vanished so rapidly, and it showed. The knight seemed to look right through you, like you were never here... this scene and the last few words that left him would be forever etched into your mind, and it seemed to last for just as long.

"My sun… it's setting... it's dark, so dark…"

Holding Solaire's head close to your chest, you weep into his bloodied blonde hair, nuzzling into it and repeating over and over your regrets.

"Solaire... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I should have been with you through it all... if only..."

Not a single word was uttered by him in this moment; there was only shallow breathing that danced lightly against your skin. There was no assurance of your right-doing, no angry reply from him... nothing. All you could see was his eyes dim, and a single drip of blood leaving his mouth, and how hard he struggled to breathe.

Solaire's laboured breathing eventually eased, and as he exhaled one last time, the very essence of his soul pulled his mortal form apart, dispersing crystal-like dust only for it to take place in your very own body. You felt his weight being lifted from your lap, and soon there was nothing more of him... only what had been passed onto you as a result of the tragic event.

Indeed, you felt stronger, but in the worst kind of circumstance. This is not a reward... far from it. No amount of souls could replace what you had lost.

You felt like you had failed. Your sun's flame had been extinguished. He was no longer going to be there to light your way, nor offer his warmth to you...

You wanted to break. It took what seemed like eternity for the awful truth to sink in. And when it did... your head rose up as you released a long, anguished cry of mourning.

You really wanted to give up there and then... to keep Solaire with you had not been the aim of your journey, but he had offered you so much. A hand, and even more than that, comfort in a time that had already caused so much despair. And now to be without it, the path to your destination seemed ever lonelier.

It took all of your strength to rise from your position on the floor. You felt yourself losing purpose. You didn't want to care anymore; look what it had sought upon you! Taking a glance at your silent surroundings, you notice that a Sunlight Maggot remained nearby, the larvae of the Chaos Bug you had killed. THAT was what had truly betrayed Solaire's vision. It would have proven useful to you in lighting your way according to the glow that it gave off, but seeing the true and horrific power that the item possessed, you punched it into the ground in pure anger.

"Damn the Hollowing, let it take me as I am now!" you shout to the passage, the cruel inhabitants of the Demon Ruins, and all those who had oppressed you. Fists clenched around your weapons, you let out another feral, angered wail as grief and anger overwhelmed you.

You almost forgot about the seriousness of your injuries; you had been given a pretty deep cut to your gut after Solaire's initial strike, and almost keeled over when you had somewhat calmed. You clutch at your stomach in pain, the sensation reminding you that you must heal yourself.

Delving through your inventory to find the Estus flask, you feel a familiar shape brush your fingertips. You knowing what the object is, all too well. A heavy sigh leaves your lips and you squeeze it in your palm.

No... Solaire wouldn't have wanted you to give up. You heard what he said about you. One who had a strong arm, strong faith, and most importantly... a strong heart. He had given you that White Sign Soapstone with complete trust, to assist others and help them toward their destiny. You had been a true friend and could at least take with you that Solaire had met his end with a friend offering comfort. Even though he had been driven to insanity, it was certainly better than going Hollow alone.

Tears coming to your sore eyes once again as you took a swig of your Flask, you realise that you needed to fulfill your duty, and at his final resting place, you decided that you would do it in the Astorian's name. Although Solaire wouldn't be able to fight with you to the very end, you at least owed it to him that you got this far. To waste all this time in trying, and ending your path here, would take you on a one-way route to Hollowing. And leave the world to face an Age of Darkness, perhaps forever.

And while Solaire had failed to fulfill his task in his own time, you still had hope. You had overcome what he and so many others had not. You are the Chosen Undead for countless reasons, ones that can be only explained with what you had battled and experienced in your journey thus far.

You glance across the soiled floor of the shortcut, and noticed that the famous Iron Helm was still laid down. You go to pick it up, cleaning off the dust and blood that had spattered upon its surface. You kiss the front of the helmet gently, thanking Solaire silently in your head for all that he had done for you, and placed it in your inventory. You wasn't sure that you could deal with wearing the item, but it would serve as a reminder of all that you and the Astorian had accomplished together, from first meeting to last favour.

With all of this behind you, and a new strength instilled in your soul, you begin your journey once again, ever the lonely traveller...


End file.
